In conventional cable crimp joints, the crimp sleeve has always been sized such that a small diameter and length was very difficult to obtain. For example, when conventional optical fiber cable ends are cut flush and butted together, a crimp of a single inside diameter and sufficient cross-sectional area would be required to carry the entire load, resulting in a larger outside diameter and longer length.
The cable joints disclosed by Jones et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,921, and Jenkins, U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,459, are typical of the prior art in which the joints are large in diameter and are neither flexible nor simply configured.
In particular, Jones et al disclose fibers spliced together at 28 at the center of the cable joint and encapsulated with a thin plastics coating. A tubular member 10 is fitted over the spliced fiber and exposed metal tube 2. Metal ferrules 27 are slid over the member 10, and a tapered hollow insert 26 is slid into position over the wires 6A. Sleeve-like intermediate inserts 25 are positioned over the wires 6A, and collars 24 are clamped towards each other. An outer casing 32 acts as a bridging member connecting the collars 24. Thus, with the quantity of components needed, the cable joint is large in diameter and complicated to attain.
Jenkins is similar in that the reference discloses a submarine cable joint which includes two cables 2, 3, each including an annular tensile layer 28 surrounding at least one optical fiber 4, 5 wherein the annular tensile layers 28 are connected to opposed positions on a coupling member 8, and leading a length of each fiber to be joined to a position outside the coupling member 8. After the tensile layers 28 are fixed to the coupling member 8, the fiber lengths are joined together and a housing fitted around the joined fibers and the coupling member 8. Thus, the cable joint in Jenkins suffers from the same disadvantages as the one in Jones et al, wherein the cable joint is neither compact, flexible, or simply configured.
Ziebol et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,655 discloses an optical fiber crimp with a first crimping portion 52 and a second crimping portion 54 biased toward one another, to securely crimp a fiber within a cut-away ferrule 14. This connector subassembly is not designed to maximize tensile strength.
Thus, the above cable joints are not optimized with respect to compactness, tensile strength, and cable handling. In addition, the cable joints are complicated and require excess components.